The Pinckney, Mich. club, currently owned by the Henry Ford Health System, would be combined with a lake and neighboring lands to form a 492-acre, publicly owned property that would also include hiking and biking trails and sports fields. Hamburg Township has applied for a $3.6 million grant from Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, and the health system would donate about $1.2 million in land value. “Ultimately, township residents could own their own golf course, with no local taxpayer dollars spent,” said a township official. SIGA Corp. has operated the course since 1992 and would seek to continue that relationship.

Rush Lake Hills Golf Club (RLHGC) in Pinckney, Mich., along with a lake and hundreds of acres of natural land, could become a new publicly owned recreation area in Hamburg Township, Mich., the Livingston Daily Press & Argus of Howell, Mich. reported.

Township officials are making a move to buy the golf club, Herndon Lake and neighboring lands from the Henry Ford Health System, the Daily Press & Argus reported. The entire property is 492 acres, including the approximately 120-acre course, a par-73 that was designed in 1961 by Jim Montville and renovated in the mid-1990s.

Dearborn, Mich. real estate developer Robert Herndon donated the land to the health system in the early 1980s, the Daily Press & Argus reported. All profits from the golf course while it has been owned by the health system have gone to fund oncology research.

“If we became the new owners, the land would be preserved as recreation,” Hamburg Township Clerk Mike Dolan said, adding that the golf course would remain as part of that purpose, the Daily Press & Argus reported.

The club is currently operated by SIGA Corp., the Daily Press & Argus reported, and Frank Garzia, a partner in the course management firm, said the plan is for that relationship to continue.

“If the township is the new owner, then it would be up to them, but we have a good reputation,” Garzia said. “We are involved in a lot of charities and the fire and police departments have tournaments here. The township has indicated they would keep the same terms.”

The health system hired SIGA Corp. to take over operations of the course in 1992, Garzia said.

“I think [parkland) would be a great complement to the golf course,” Garzia added. “You’d have the whole 490-some acres. You could have walking trails, camp sites, soccer fields. There are lots of things you could do for recreational value.”

Township officials have applied for an approximately $3.6 million grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Trust Fund to purchase the property, the Daily Press & Argus reported.

Dolan said the health system would donate about $1.2 million in land value, in lieu of the township spending township funds on a 25% match required by the terms of the grant, the Daily Press & Argus reported. The total value of the course and land is estimated at about $4.8 million.

“Ultimately, Hamburg Township residents could own their own golf course with no local taxpayer dollars spent,” Dolan said.

If the state awards the township the grant in December, Dolan said township officials will hold public hearings in 2021 to gather ideas from residents about how they would like to see the rest of the land used as parkland, the Daily Press & Argus reported.

By state law, Dolan said, any land purchased with an MDNR grant has to be used for parks and recreation in perpetuity.

“Ideas I’ve had are hiking and biking trails going through the natural land with minimal disturbance to the land, and maybe a future tie-in to the [Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park],” he said.

Township officials might also consider adding a boardwalk or dock by Herndon Lake, he added.

Dolan expects that township officials would apply for more MDNR grants to add other park features, the Daily Press & Argus reported.